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From Blackmores to Wah Kwong Maritime Transport – we’ve scoured the globe for the A-Z of top family business leaders in 2016

Whether its family members taking over top leadership positions, or businesses who’ve beaten Apple in corporate reputation rankings, we’ve got the leaders steering their family businesses in innovative and interesting directions

Whether its family members taking over top leadership positions, or businesses that have won awards for their employee engagement, we’ve got the leaders steering their family businesses in innovative and interesting directions

Welcome to the Top 50 Family Business Leaders List 2015 – the fifth time CampdenFB has compiled its list of leading lights.

The Scottish independence referendum appears to have created uncertainty for many family businesses north of the border, according to one specialist in the sector. And whether or not the country decides to go it alone it seems there will be significant changes for Scottish family businesses.

The Scottish independence referendum appears to have created uncertainty for many family businesses north of the border, according to one specialist in the sector. And whether or not the country decides to go it alone it seems there will be significant changes for Scottish family businesses.

Gary Deans, head of family business at the UK branch of KPMG, said investment and hiring decisions have already been put on hold while companies wait to see what the future political landscape might hold.

Ten years for a family business is no time at all – but when it comes to covering the subject there’s plenty to talk about during that time. To celebrate 50 issues of the magazine, CampdenFB presents an interactive graphic to reflect family businesses in their full glory.

Faber-Castell is celebrating 250 years of pencil making. Count von Faber-Castell, veteran family business icon and the chairman of the eponymous company, talks to Peter Crush about the challenges the company faces today and how they have changed since his last FB interview seven years ago.

It’s odd to label a business as belonging to a bygone age when its sales are worth more than €500 million a year. Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, the eighth generation head of German pencil and writing instruments company Faber- Castell, understands the apparent irony.

Handing control of a family business over to the next generation is perhaps the biggest challenge facing any family business, and the way it is handled decides if a company will thrive or fail. Katie Barker, with an eye on 50 editions of FB, speaks to a number of family business luminaries on how they have dealt with succession.

The family Ford probably know a thing or two about succession. After all Bill Ford – the great-grandson of one of the main architects of global capitalism, Henry Ford – is the executive chairman of the company his illustrious predecessor founded more than 100 years ago.

Few family businesses produce a product so appreciated that the Museum of Modern Art in New York keeps one in its collection. Not only is the Swiss army knife a design icon, but the company that makes them has a unique corporate structure that keeps everyone happy.

Ibach, around 60 kilometres south of Zurich, could be described as a typical Swiss Alpine town – ordered streets, suburban shops, affluent population, overlooked by impressive Mont Blanc-style mountains. It’s also home to one of the world’s most iconic brands, the Swiss army knife.